M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Azariah Rules Judah

15 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to rule. ² Azariah was sixteen years old when he became king. And he ruled for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³ Azariah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁴ But the high places were not taken away. The people still gave gifts and burned special perfume on the high places. ⁵ So the Lord sent trouble upon the king. Azariah had a bad skin disease to the day of his death, and he lived in a house alone. Jotham the king’s son ruled over the house, and judged the people of the land. ⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ⁷ Azariah died and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. His son Jotham became king in his place.

Zechariah Rules Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became the king of Israel in Samaria for six months. ⁹ Zechariah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. ¹⁰ Then Shallum the son of Jabesh made plans against him and killed him in front of the people. And Shallum ruled in his place. ¹¹ The rest of the acts of Zechariah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹² This is the word of the Lord which He spoke to Jehu. He said, “Your sons, even your great great-grandson, will sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was.

Shallum Rules Israel

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah. He ruled for one month in Samaria. ¹⁴ Then Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, and killed Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and became king in his place. ¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Shallum and the plans he made are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ Then Menahem destroyed Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its land from Tirzah, because they did not open their gates to him. So he destroyed it, and tore open all its women who were going to have babies.

Menahem Rules Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became the king of Israel. He ruled for ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸ Menahem did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. All his life he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin.

¹⁹ King Pul of Assyria came to fight against the land. And Menahem gave Pul silver weighing as much as 1,000 men, that he might help him to be a powerful king. ²⁰ Menahem took the money from all the rich men of Israel. He took fifty pieces of silver from each man to pay the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of the acts of Menahem are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²² Menahem died, and his son Pekahiah became king in his place.

Pekahiah Rules Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became the king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for two years. ²⁴ Pekahiah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. ²⁵ Then his captain Pekah the son of Remaliah made plans against him. He killed Pekahiah in Samaria, in the house of the king with Argob and Arieh. Fifty men of the Gileadites were with Pekah. He became king in his place. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Rules Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became the king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for twenty years. ²⁸ Pekah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin.

²⁹ In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came to fight. The king of Assyria took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali. And he made the people go with him to Assyria. ³⁰ Hoshea the son of Elah made plans against Pekah the son of Remaliah. He killed Pekah and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Rules Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to rule. ³³ Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He did all that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ But the high places were not taken away. The people still gave gifts and burned special perfume on the high places. Jotham built the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ The rest of the acts of Jotham are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ³⁷ In those days the Lord began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham died, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. His son Ahaz became king in his place.

1 This letter is from Paul, a servant owned by God, and a missionary of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to those God has chosen for Himself. I am to teach them the truth that leads to God-like living. ² This truth also gives hope of life that lasts forever. God promised this before the world began. He cannot lie. ³ He made this known at the right time through His Word. God, the One Who saves, told me I should preach it. ⁴ I am writing to you, Titus. You are my true son in the faith which we both have. May you have loving-favor and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ, the One Who saves.

What a Church Leader Must Be Like

⁵ I left you on the island of Crete so you could do some things that needed to be done. I asked you to choose church leaders in every city. ⁶ Their lives must be so that no one can talk against them. They must have only one wife. Their children must be Christians and known to be good. They must obey their parents. They must not be wild. ⁷ A church leader is God’s servant. His life must be so that no one can say anything against him. He should not try to please himself and not be quick to get angry over little things. He must not get drunk or want to fight. He must not always want more money for himself. ⁸ He must like to take people into his home. He must love what is good. He must be able to think well and do all things in the right way. He must live a holy life and be the boss over his own desires. ⁹ He must hold to the words of truth which he was taught. He must be able to teach the truth and show those who are against the truth that they are wrong.

False Teachers

¹⁰ There are many men who will not listen or will not obey the truth. Their teaching is foolish and they lead people to believe a lie. Some Jews believe their lies. ¹¹ This must be stopped. It turns whole families from the truth. They teach these things to make money. ¹² One of their own teachers said, “People of the island of Crete always lie. They are like wild animals. They are lazy. All they want to do is eat.” ¹³ This is true of them. Speak sharp words to them because it is true. Lead them in the right way so they will have strong faith. ¹⁴ Do not let them listen to Jewish stories made up by men. Do not let them listen to man-made rules which lead them away from the truth. ¹⁵ All things are pure to the man with a pure heart. But to sinful people nothing is pure. Both their minds and their hearts are bad. ¹⁶ They say they know God, but by the way they act, they show that they do not. They are sinful people. They will not obey and are of no use for any good work.

Israel Worships False Gods

8 “Put the horn to your lips! Men who hate us are coming like an eagle to fight against the house of the Lord, because the people of Israel have sinned against My agreement and would not obey My Law. ² They cry out to Me, ‘My God, we of Israel know You!’ ³ Israel has turned away from the good, and those who hate him will come after him. ⁴ They have set up kings, but not by Me. They have chosen leaders, but I did not know it. They have made false gods for themselves out of silver and gold, so they will be destroyed. ⁵ O Samaria, I will have nothing to do with the calf you worship. My anger burns against them! How long will it be before they are pure ⁶ in Israel? A workman made this calf, so it is not God. The calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces. ⁷ They plant the wind and they will gather the storm. The standing grain has no heads, and will give no food. If it were to give food, strangers would eat it.

⁸ “Israel is eaten up. They are now among the nations like a pot that is of no worth. ⁹ They have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey all alone. Ephraim has hired lovers. ¹⁰ Even when they hire people among the nations to help them, I will now gather them together. And they will begin to waste away because the powerful king will make it hard for them.

¹¹ “Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin gifts, they have become altars for sinning. ¹² I wrote 10,000 of My Laws for him, but they think of them as something strange. ¹³ They give gifts to Me and eat the meat of the gifts, but the Lord is not pleased with them. Now He will remember their wrong-doing and punish them for their sins. They will return to Egypt. ¹⁴ Israel has forgotten his Maker and built great houses. And Judah has built many strong cities ready for battle. But I will send a fire upon its cities that will destroy its beautiful houses.”

A Prayer for the Lord’s Help

123 I lift up my eyes to You, O You Whose throne is in the heavens. ² See, the eyes of servants look to the hand of their owner. The eyes of a woman servant look to the hand of her owner. So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He shows us loving-kindness.

³ Show loving-kindness to us, O Lord. Show loving-kindness to us. For we have had our fill of hate. ⁴ The proud have laughed at us too long. We have had more than enough of their hate.

God Watches Over His People

124 “If the Lord had not been on our side,” let Israel say, ² “If the Lord had not been on our side when men came against us, ³ they would have eaten us up alive. Because their anger burned against us. ⁴ The waters would have covered us. The river would have passed over our soul. ⁵ The angry waters would have passed over our soul.”

⁶ Honor and thanks be to the Lord! He has not let us be torn by their teeth. ⁷ We have become free like a bird out of a trap. The net is broken and now we are free. ⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

God’s People Are Safe

125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but stands forever. ² The Lord is around His people like the mountains are around Jerusalem, now and forever. ³ For the sinful will not rule over the land of those who are right with God. So those who are right and good may not use their hands to do wrong.

⁴ O Lord, do good to those who are good, and to those who are right in their hearts. ⁵ But the Lord will let all those who turn aside to their sinful ways go with those who are sinners. Peace be upon Israel.